Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Talisman: Road of Trials | 2009 | Peter Straub | Buy |
| 2 | The Green Woman | 2010 | Peter Straub | Buy |
The Talisman: Road of Trials adapts the opening portion of the 1984 novel that Straub co-wrote with Stephen King, following young Jack Sawyer’s first steps into the Territories. The comics adaptation was illustrated by Tony Shasteen and published by Marvel, retaining the novel’s road-trip structure while translating its imagery into sequential art. It covers the early section of the novel and serves as a visual introduction to the world for readers who prefer the comics format.
The Green Woman (2010) is a more distinctive project: an original horror graphic novel co-written by Straub and Michael Easton, with painted artwork by John Bolton. The story involves a bartender whose encounter with a mysterious woman pulls him into a landscape of myth, violence, and folk horror. Bolton’s painted style gives the book a different look from most horror comics, closer to European fantasy illustration than American superhero art, which suits the material well.
Both books occupy a small but interesting corner of Straub’s bibliography for readers who want to see his sensibility translated into visual storytelling. They are not required reading to appreciate his prose work, but they reward fans who want to see familiar themes approached from a different angle.